Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 17, 2026

PTR-ToF-MS Coupled with an Automated Sampling System and Tailored Data Analysis for Food Studies: Bioprocess Monitoring, Screening and Nose-space Analysis
08:43

PTR-ToF-MS Coupled with an Automated Sampling System and Tailored Data Analysis for Food Studies: Bioprocess Monitoring, Screening and Nose-space Analysis

Published on: May 11, 2017

[Benzene in soft drinks: a study in Florence (Italy)]

Guglielmo Bonaccorsi1, Andrea Perico, Alessio Colzi

  • 1Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica, Università degli Studi di Firenze.

Igiene E Sanita Pubblica
|October 18, 2012
PubMed
Summary

Benzene was detected in all soft drinks analyzed, with higher levels in those containing ascorbic acid and sodium benzoate. Two drinks exceeded the European benzene limit, indicating potential packaging or contamination issues.

More Related Videos

Extraction and Detection of Geosmin and 2-Methylisoborneol in Water and Fish using High-Capacity Sorptive Extraction Probes and GC-MS11:59

Extraction and Detection of Geosmin and 2-Methylisoborneol in Water and Fish using High-Capacity Sorptive Extraction Probes and GC-MS

Published on: July 3, 2025

Fizzy Extraction of Volatile Organic Compounds Combined with Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry08:10

Fizzy Extraction of Volatile Organic Compounds Combined with Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry

Published on: July 14, 2017

Related Concept Videos

Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution: Sulfonation of Benzene01:22

Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution: Sulfonation of Benzene

Sulfonation of benzene is a reaction wherein benzene is treated with fuming sulfuric acid at room temperature to produce benzenesulfonic acid. Fuming sulfuric acid is a mixture of sulfur trioxide and concentrated sulfuric acid.
NMR Spectroscopy of Benzene Derivatives01:37

NMR Spectroscopy of Benzene Derivatives

Simple unsubstituted benzene has six aromatic protons, all chemically equivalent. Therefore, benzene exhibits only a singlet peak at δ 7.3 ppm in the 1H NMR spectrum. The observed shift is far downfield because the aromatic ring current strongly deshields the protons. Any substitution on the benzene ring makes the aromatic protons nonequivalent, and the protons split each other. The peak is, therefore, no longer a singlet and the splitting pattern and their associated coupling constants depend...
Physical Properties Affecting Solubility02:19

Physical Properties Affecting Solubility

Solutions of Gases in Liquids
As for any solution, the solubility of a gas in a liquid is affected by the attractive intermolecular forces between solute and solvent species. Unlike solid and liquid solutes, however, there is no solute-solute intermolecular attraction to overcome when a gaseous solute dissolves in a liquid solvent since the atoms or molecules comprising a gas are far separated and experience negligible interactions. Consequently, solute-solvent interactions are the sole...
Benzene to 1,4-Cyclohexadiene: Birch Reduction Mechanism01:18

Benzene to 1,4-Cyclohexadiene: Birch Reduction Mechanism

Birch reduction uses solvated electrons as reducing agents. The reaction converts benzene to 1,4-cyclohexadiene. The reaction proceeds by the transfer of a single electron to the ring to form a benzene radical anion. This anion is highly basic—it abstracts a proton from the alcohol to form a cyclohexadienyl radical. Another single electron transfer gives the cyclohexadienyl anion. A proton transfer from the alcohol forms 1,4-cyclohexadiene. Since this reduction occurs via radical anion...
Acidity and Basicity of Alcohols and Phenols02:36

Acidity and Basicity of Alcohols and Phenols

Like water, alcohols are weak acids and bases. This is attributed to the polarization of the O–H bond making the hydrogen partially positive. Moreover, the electron pairs on the oxygen atom of alcohol make it both basic and nucleophilic. Protonation of an alcohol converts hydroxide, a poor leaving group, into water—a good one. The two acid–base equilibria corresponding to ethanol are depicted below.
Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution: Fluorination and Iodination of Benzene01:13

Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution: Fluorination and Iodination of Benzene

Bromination and chlorination of aromatic rings by electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions are easily achieved, but fluorination and iodination are difficult to achieve. Fluorine is so reactive that its reaction with benzene is difficult to control, resulting in poor yields of monofluoroaromatic products. To address this, Selectfluor reagent is used as a fluorine source in which a fluorine atom is bonded to a positively charged nitrogen.